------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the April 10, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
LOS ANGELES: MAJOR NURSES’ VICTORY
By John Beacham Los Angeles
March 25 marked a major union victory in Los Angeles. In a case it brought before the National Labor Relations Board, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of Los Angeles--one of the largest and wealthiest hospitals in the world--failed in its attempt to slander and discredit the organizing efforts of its Registered Nurses.
The RNs at Cedars-Sinai had voted 695 to 627 to join the California Nurses Association in December 2002. The CNA has 50,000 members statewide.
Since the vote, the hospital has spent more than $4 million to build an aggressive campaign against the RNs. Among other things, hospital bosses accused the organizers of intimidating workers and stuffing ballot boxes. Before the vote, the hospital waged a furious and non-stop campaign to convince the RNs that it would take better care of them than the CNA would.
In a letter written to the chairperson of Cedars-Sinai's board of directors, the nurses wrote, "A majority of the nurses are professional immigrant women who arrived from foreign lands. We expected that in America we would have a voice and be able to freely associate and participate in the democratic process. Sadly, this has not been the case.
"It is terribly disappointing that a prestigious institution such as Cedars-Sinai would not only express fierce opposition to the union--even though a third of Cedars employees already have a union--but also resort to legal maneuvers to try and overturn our democratic vote."
The CNA has a solid history of organizing and struggling alongside its rank and file. During the fight with the hospital, the RNs kept up the pressure by picketing, tirelessly combating the hospital's campaign of misinformation and rallying together. It is this pressure that brought the RNs and CNA their victory.
Cedars-Sinai has 12 days to appeal the ruling. While the CNA hopes that the hospital will open up negotiations regarding patient ratios, wages and benefits, the RNs remain undeterred by management's money and tactics.
RN Eva Buenconsejo promised at a March 28 rally celebrating the NLRB's ruling: "This is only the beginning. If there is another fight to be fought we will fight that too."
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